WHY: Likhain’s exuberant, non-Western, joyous, detailed art is an inspiration to many of us and should be more widely recognized. (Website); Portfolio). I was so happy when Mia/Likhain received the Tiptree Fellowship this year. M.Sereno/Likhain is a marginalized artist of color whose work often slips through the cracks in the world of ‘accepted’ SFF art styles.

This is where my work arises: the point where women and monsters wear the same face, where we must be feared not because we are destroyers but because we are too strong to be controlled. In my art I take the destructive portrayals of the mangkukulam, the entrail-eating manananggal, the shape-shifting aswang — and I paint over them with gold and glory. In my art I show women who are unapologetic in their power and unashamed of their monstrous limbs, their scales and sharp teeth.

Likhain/M.Sereno, “Prinsesa”

Last year, Likhain was on the Hugo Longlist in the Fan Artist category and came very close to being on the ballot. Many of us believe she would have been on it if not for the P*ies (File770 detailed analysis of the ballot).

Hugo Longlist

How can we help bring Likhain/M.Sereno award recognition this year?

No confusion about names. Please vote Likhain; please join me in letting the Hugo committee know that Likhain, M. Sereno, Mia S./Sereno are the same person and these votes should be tallied together, so all permutations would count.

No split/divided votes. If you only vote for her in one category, please vote in the category where Likhain already came close:Fan Artist Hugo. Last year, I watched the negative impact of split votes for multiple people. If we want to see a person on the ballot, showing in one category tends to be stronger.

IF you vote in two categories, vote BOTH Fan Artist Hugo and Professional Artist Hugo. Likhain is eligible in both categories and I am voting for her in both categories.

SPREAD THE WORD. Twitter, Facebook, blogs, chats, whatever works.

Sigasig, by M.Sereno/Likhain; appeared on the cover of Lackington’s Magazine.

But Mia’s art is professional!

Yes. Yes, it is. Yes, yes, yes it is.

Wonderful artists often migrate from Fan to Pro in the Hugo category, and my hope is that if Mia/Likhain gets recognized in a Hugo Category (remember, she came close in Fan Artist category), then it would be easier for her to get professional engagements and help her be recognized in the Pro category in a year or two.

I heard of cases where her portfolio was rejected because it was not “professional.” This is not because Mia/Likhain’s art is not “professional” but because it is non-Western and does not fit neatly with some venues’ concept of what is professional art. We need to raise awareness about that.

Award nominations are a great way to raise awareness of a marginalized artist’s importance in a community.

3 Comments

“Professional” in “Hugo for Best Professional Artist” does not refer to perceived quality of the work. It refers to whether the artist’s work was sold to, and published in, qualifying markets.

From the Hugo Category Definitions:
“A professional publication either (1) provided at least a quarter the income of any one person or, (2) was owned or published by any entity which provided at least a quarter the income of any of its staff and/or owner.”http://www.thehugoawards.org/hugo-categories

So trad pub book covers would be considered “pro”; self-pub book covers probably not.

However, I think you are right in that it would be better to build name recognition in the Fan Category, as Galen Dara did, to get to the point of having at least a half-dozen pro works for nomination in the Pro category (where competition will be much stiffer). (One of the Pro nominees last year, despite being prolific in the 80s and 90s, had only one piece of pro work published in 2015, and I think that contributed greatly to their No-Award placing.)

[…] (4) BECOMING A WINNER. 2016 Tiptree fellowship winner likhain’s application statement has been posted online. (likhain appears to be the desired name, but they have also used M. Sereno, Mia S., or Mia Sereno, per this post by Rose Lemberg). […]

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About

Rose Lemberg is a queer, bigender immigrant from Eastern Europe and Israel. Their work has appeared in Lightspeed, Strange Horizons, Beneath Ceaseless Skies, Unlikely Story, Uncanny, and other venues, and has been a finalist for the Nebula, Tiptree, Elgin, Rhysling, and Crawford awards.